WILMINGTON, NC (UNCW) -– Former UNCW standout infielder Michael Bass was honored twice more this season on Wednesday, as he was named to both the Baseball America and National Collegiate Baseball Writers All-America squads.

Bass, who also earned third-team honors on the Louisville Slugger All-America squad and was a Capital One Second-Team Academic All-America, was named second-team by Baseball America and third-team by the NCBWA.
Bass was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 27th round of last week’s Major League Baseball draft and will begin his career with the Portland Beavers of the short-season Northwest League.

As a senior, Bass led the Seahawks to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year as UNCW earned an at-large berth and competed in the Charlottesville Regional.

Bass led the Seahawks with a career-high .380 batting average and scored a team-high 62 runs. He also collected a team-leading 21 doubles and stole 26 bases in 27 attempts.

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RALEIGH, NC (AP) - North Carolina State waited a long time to make it back to the College World Series. It only makes it sweeter its first opponent will be the Wolfpack's hated rival.

N.C. State is leaving for Omaha on Wednesday, the program's first trip to the College World Series since 1968 and just the second overall. Its first game there comes Sunday against North Carolina, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament.

In the last meeting, the Tar Heels won 2-1 in 18 innings over Memorial Day weekend in the longest game in Atlantic Coast Conference tournament history.

Wolfpack senior Tarran Senay says the game "definitely is meaningful because we owe them another game." Sophomore Trea Turner says the team is worried about more than just beating the Tar Heels.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The former North Carolina State quarterback agreed to terms Wednesday and is participating in the team's three-day mandatory minicamp.

The 6-foot-6 Glennon was the 73rd overall pick in the draft. He threw for 4,031 yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior for the Wolfpack.

With Tampa Bay, Glennon is competing with veteran Dan Orlovsky to be the backup to starter Josh Freeman. There's a good chance the Bucs will carry three quarterbacks on the roster this year, as opposed to two in recent seasons.

Glennon started 26 of 36 games he played in college, completing over 60 percent of his passes for 7,411 yards and 63 TDs.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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MOREHEAD CITY, NC (BRBMT) -- Hatteras Fever II, captained by Buddy Hooper of Buxton, N.C., took the midpoint lead of the 55th annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament when it showed up at the scales Wednesday with a 465.3-pound blue marlin reeled in by angler Taylor Miller of Raleigh, N.C..

Miller – a former Division I pitcher at Appalachian State University – tossed all of his energy into the rod and reel when the fish began to run away from the boat. Miller had never fought a blue marlin before, but he pitched all of his energy into the rod and reel and strong-armed his catch back to the boat in 28 minutes.

“I thought the fish might run out again … but it didn’t,” Miller said as he spoke to reporters at the weigh station. “As a pitcher, I threw the ball hard to get it past home-run hitters. Today, I threw myself into the reel. The whole thing was surreal.”

During the first two days of competition, the 55th Big Rock had just one other blue marlin brought to the weigh station. Sensation captain Dale Britt, Morehead City, and angler Trey Siner, Concord, N.C., grabbed the Big Rock’s inaugural lead Monday with a 423.8-pound blue marlin that Siner fought for 109 minutes.

Anglers Wednesday found better fishing conditions than they experienced in the previous two days. Only three of the 100 boats in the field elected to stay in port and that proved to be a good call as anglers scored 10 blue marlin releases, five white marlin releases and four sailfish releases in addition to the boated blue marlin.

“We had (the fish) hooked right in the top of the mouth and he just got out and did a lot of shakin’ and jumpin’,” Hooper said. “The pressure of the 130-pound (line) really wore him out. (Miller) did a great job … he did everything perfect. He’s a very good athlete and he did it perfect.”

Hooper and crew started the day south of where they wanted to fish when it came time to put lines in the water. After hearing on the radio that some boats were seeing blue marlins in another area, Hooper had his crew take in their lines and they ran at top speed to the hot spot.

Less than an hour later, Hooper’s move paid big dividends.

Since there’s no third-place blue marlin on the leader board, Hatters Fever II is positioned to win $491,297.50 if it holds onto the Big Rock lead for three more days. Sensation would receive $195,702.50 as runner-up from the $1,154,625 purse.

Sea Spud, captained by Pete Bae, Atlantic Beach, moved into first place in the billfish release division with 800 points after releasing a second blue marlin Wednesday. Sea Spud would win $37,312 plus daily release prizes if it holds onto this top spot.

Dancin’ Outlaw, captained by Thomas Wood, Harkers Island, is currently second in the billfish release division with 525 points earned with releases of a blue marlin and a sailfish. Wood is in position to win $22,387 plus the $2,000 first release of the day prize for Wednesday.

The Tuna category experienced a shake-up when Bil-Buster, captained by John Steele II of Hubert weighed in a 64.80-pounder soon after the scales opened. Magic Moment, captained by Fred Willis, Morehead City, continues to hold the top spot in the wahoo category with a 65.8-pounder.

The dolphin category leader is Goin Deep, captained by Kenny Sexton of Manteo. Goin Deep weighed in a 48.8-pounder Monday evening and has held the lead ever since.

The six-day competition continues Thursday at 9 a.m. Each boat is allowed to fish 4 out of the 6 days during the tournament.

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MOREHEAD CITY, NC (MARLINS) -– Ryan Cranmer destroyed a pitch over the left-centerfield wall in the bottom half of the seventh inning in game number one to give the Morehead City Marlins a 4-3 win in walk-off fashion on Wednesday night in Morehead City, NC. The Wilmington Sharks took game number two with a come from behind 5-4 victory in extra innings.

The Marlins jumped on the board in the first inning with Cranmer’s first of three home runs, which was a two-run blast over the wall in straight away centerfield. Cranmer then crushed a solo shot over the left field wall in the third making a 3-1 ballgame in favor of the Marlins heading into the fourth. The Sharks picked up two runs over the next three innings tying the game at 3-3 heading into the home half of inning. Cranmer then crushed his solo homer in the bottom half of the seventh and the Marlins walked off winners in game one.

The Marlins jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second half of the doubleheader on a two-RBI pop up to the pitchers mound that was called a base hit, because the ball fell to the grass without a glove touching it. Bo Way then gave the Marlins two more runs with a two-run home run over the right field wall.

Wilmington picked up three runs on a bases loaded hit by pitch and a two-RBI single off the bat of Zach Stevens, which tied the ballgame at 4-4. The Sharks completed comeback in the top half of inning number eight on an RBI single by Zach Houchens. The Marlins failed to score a run in the bottom half of the eighth, leading to a 5-4 Wilmington victory in game two.

The Marlins travel to Wilmington Thursday night for the final game of a three-game, two-day, two venue series with the Sharks. First pitch from Buck Hardee Field is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

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